1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and in particular to a concentrated cooling apparatus of a refrigerator which is capable of performing instant cooling operation by discharging cold air intensively onto a high temperature-load occurred region inside a chilling chamber.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 is a perspective-sectional view illustrating the conventional refrigerator, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating a chilling chamber of the conventional refrigerator.
The conventional refrigerator consists of a main body 104 on which a pair of doors 102 open/closed in two ways installed on the front; a freezing chamber 106 placed on the left of the main body 104 and storing frozen food; a chilling chamber 108 partitioned from the freezing chamber 106 by a separation wall 110, placed on the right side of the main body 104 and storing cold food; and a cold air supply unit, etc. installed at the upper portion of the freezing chamber 106 and supplying air cooled while passing the refrigerating cycle (not shown) to the freezing chamber 106 and the cooling chamber 108.
The cold air supply unit includes a blower 120 installed at the upper rear of the freezing chamber 106 and forcibly ventilating air cooled while passing the refrigerating cycle; a cold air supply path 132 formed at the upper portion of the separation wall 110 in order to make the cold air ventilated from the blower 120 flow into the chilling chamber 108; a cold air discharge duct 134 installed at the upper portion of the chilling chamber 108, communicating with the cold air supply path 132 and discharging the air supplied from the cold air supply path 132 into the chilling chamber 108; and a cold air inflow path 138 formed at the lower portion of the separation wall 110 and making the cold air finishing the cooling operation while circulating the chilling chamber 108 flow into the refrigerating cycle.
Herein, plural cold air discharge holes 136 for discharging cold air into the chilling chamber 108 are formed at the front and lower surfaces of the cold air discharge duct 134.
In the conventional refrigerator, when the refrigerating cycle is operated and the blower 120 is circulated, cold air cooled while passing the refrigerating cycle is discharged into the cold air supply path 132 by the ventilation pressure of the blower 120.
And, the cold air supplied to the cold air supply path 132 flows into the cold air discharge duct 134 and is discharged into the chilling chamber 108 through cold air discharge holes 136 formed on the cold air discharge duct 134. The cold air discharged into the chilling chamber 108 performs the cooling operation of cold food stored in the chilling chamber 108 while circulating inside the chilling chamber 108, and the cold air finishing the cooling operation flows into the cold air inflow path 138 formed at the lower portion of the separation wall 110 and is cooled again while passing the refrigerating cycle.
However, in the conventional refrigerator, a cold air discharge duct is installed at the upper portion of a chilling chamber, cold air is supplied from the upper portion to the lower portion of the chilling chamber through cold air discharge holes formed on the cold air discharge duct, a temperature variation inside the chilling chamber is big according to a distance from the cold air discharge holes. And, because cold air is discharged only from the cold air discharge duct, when a high temperature load occurs due to foodstuff stored inside the chilling chamber, etc., lots of time is required for equalizing a temperature inside the chilling chamber, and freshness of the foodstuff stored in the chilling chamber may be lowered due to delay in cooling.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a concentrated cooling apparatus of a refrigerator having the same capable of equalizing a temperature variation inside a chilling chamber instantly by installing a concentrated cooling apparatus inside the chilling chamber and discharging cold air intensively on a high-temperature load occurred region inside the chilling chamber and maintaining freshness of foodstuff stored in the chilling chamber by improving a cooling speed on the high-temperature load occurred region.
In addition, it is another object of the present invention to provide a concentrated cooling apparatus of a refrigerator which is capable of improving cooling efficiency and cooling performance by discharging cold air through only a nozzle corresponding to a high-temperature load occurred region among plural nozzles installed at the side wall of a chilling chamber and discharging cold air intensively.
In addition, it is yet another object of the present invention to provide a concentrated cooling apparatus of a refrigerator which is capable of preventing nozzles and an infrared sensor installed at the side wall of a chilling chamber from frost.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a concentrated cooling apparatus of a refrigerator in accordance with the present invention includes a housing respectively installed at more than one cold air guide path formed at a side wall of a chilling chamber so as to guide cold air to the side wall of the chilling chamber; a nozzle rotationally supported by the housing and jetting cold air intensively to a high-temperature load occurred region when a high-temperature load occurs inside the chilling chamber; an infrared sensor installed at the front of the nozzle and sensing the high-temperature load occurred region while being rotated with the nozzle; and a nozzle cover installed at the upper surface of the housing, supporting the nozzle so as to expose the upper surface of the nozzle and opening/closing the cold air jet hole by the rotation of the nozzle.
The nozzle includes the cold air jet hole to jet cold air of the cold air guide path onto the high-temperature load occurred region and a sensor receiving groove to receive the infrared sensor.
The nozzle cover includes an installation portion combined with the upper surface of the housing and having a nozzle insertion hole at the central portion so as to expose the upper surface of the nozzle, and a nozzle opening/closing portion formed at the upper surface of the installation portion so as to cover part of the exposed upper surface of the nozzle and closing the cold air jet hole when the cold air jet hole goes therein by the rotation of the nozzle.
The installation portion is disc-shaped so as to have a nozzle insertion hole at the central portion, and the nozzle opening/closing portion is formed so as to cover about xc2xd of the upper surface of the nozzle and has a globular shape so as to be tightly contacted to the upper surface of the nozzle.
The installation portion and the nozzle opening/closing portion are fabricated as one body.
A heating means is formed at the internal surface of the nozzle opening/closing portion in order to prevent the contact portions between the nozzle opening/closing portion and the nozzle from being icebound by cold air.
The heating means is a circular type hot-wire generating heat when power is applied.
A concentrated cooling apparatus of a refrigerator in accordance with the present invention includes a housing respectively installed at more than one cold air guide path formed at a side wall of a chilling chamber so as to guide cold air to the side wall of the chilling chamber; a nozzle rotationally supported by the housing and jetting cold air intensively to a high-temperature load occurred region when a high-temperature load occurs inside the chilling chamber; an infrared sensor installed at the front of the nozzle and sensing the high-temperature load occurred region while being rotated with the nozzle; a nozzle cover installed at the upper surface of the housing, supporting the nozzle so as to expose the upper surface of the nozzle and opening/closing the cold air jet hole by the rotation of the nozzle; and a cold air discharge portion for removing frost onto the surface of the infrared sensor by jetting part of cold air flowing in the cold air guide path onto the surface of the infrared sensor.
The nozzle cover includes an installation portion combined with the upper surface of the housing and having a nozzle insertion hole at the central portion so as to expose the upper surface of the nozzle, and a nozzle opening/closing portion formed at the upper surface of the installation portion so as to cover part of the exposed upper surface of the nozzle and closing the cold air jet hole when the cold air jet hole goes therein by the rotation of the nozzle.
The cold air discharge portion includes a cold air discharge groove formed at the internal surface of the nozzle opening/closing portion and jetting cold air into the sensor receiving groove receiving the infrared sensor; and a cold air supply groove formed at the outer wall surface of the housing and connecting the cold air discharge groove with the cold air guide duct.
The cold air discharge groove is formed as a concave band type, and an inlet of the cold air discharge groove is arranged on the front of the sensor receiving unit.
The cold air supply groove is formed at the outer side surface of the housing, the upper portion thereof is tightly contacted to the end of the cold air discharge groove, and the lower portion thereof is connected to the through hole formed at the side of the cold air guide duct.
A heater is installed at the internal surface of the nozzle opening/closing portion in order to prevent the contact portions between the nozzle opening/closing portion and the nozzle from being icebound.